DISMISSAL OF CERNET 27 CASE: A LEGAL VICTORY AGAINST STATE REPRESSION

Defend NGOs Alliance
6 days ago
2 min read

The Defend NGOs Alliance welcomes the decision of the RTC Branch 74 in Cebu to dismiss the case filed against the Community Empowerment Resource Network, Inc. (CERNET) under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 or Republic Act (RA) No. 10168.

The court decision granted CERNET’s Joint Motion to Dismiss on 31 March 2026 and was released on 18 May 2026, wherein the alleged charged acts “do not constitute a crime under the law in force at the time of their commission”—the court’s ground for dismissal.

The alleged terrorism financing case against CERNET began when then PA Col. Joey A. Escanillas, commander of Joint Task Force Cebu filed a complaint before the National Prosecution Service. It was filed again a year later at the RTC Branch 74 in Cebu by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Peter Ong, head of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) legal task force. The complaint accused 27 directors and staff members of CERNET (CERNET 27), even individuals who were already deceased, of funding communist groups. Shortly after, Escanillas received a promotion to Brigadier General.

Following the decision to dismiss, the NTF-ELCAC insists that the case should not be used by groups “as proof that all counterterrorism financing cases are fabricated, malicious, or illegitimate from the beginning”. The task force’s insistence only confirms the malicious intent in their relentless harassment of civil society organizations (CSOs) – non-government organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs), humanitarian workers, human rights defenders, activists, and journalists. Innumerable instances of spurious cases recorded by human rights watch groups serve as proof that the NTF-ELCAC systematically abuses counterterrorism laws and weaponizes these with impunity.

The NTF-ELCAC has been a key driver of rising human rights violations for years. For the task force to insist that groups should be silent about prevailing injustices and be mum in questioning NTF-ELCAC’s abuses is highly evasive and hypocritical. The NTF-ELCAC’s prosecution is aided by hired witnesses and displays no accountability even when court findings prove that victims were falsely charged. Judicial harassment through the twin terror laws—Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act resulted in irreparable damage for all of the falsely accused HRDs–affecting development workers’ reputations, livelihood, mental health, finances, and families. Well-meaning development work is criminalized, depriving communities of necessary aid. The task force cannot be entrusted to be responsible in their mandate of peace building when their actions have shown their continuing abuse and misuse of the law.

Moreover, the dismissal of CERNET 27’s case further validates the campaign to repeal the twin terror laws and the call to appeal against the passage of additional terror bills in congress—the Anti-Fake News and Disinformation Act or HB 2697, Foreign Influence and Interference Act of 2025 or HB 1068, and Terror Grooming Prevention Act of 2025 or SB 1366—the latter having been authored by fugitive Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. CERNET 27’s case reveals a consistent duality of law enforcement and justice within the country—one that spares the powerful but jails ordinary citizens.

As we celebrate CERNET 27’s long overdue victory, we must continue to push back against the weaponization of counterterrorism laws, state repression and shrinking civic space.#